The Fly Fishing Thread
Discussion
Not fly fishing per se but carp can be caught on fly so here goes -
I'm a regular visitor to the Silverstone Classic, and am at the circuit early every day . I wander around a lot and back in about 2013 I noticed a drainage pond behind the infield grandstand at what used to be Club , a couple of minutes walk up from the Wing complex. Every year I had a look - as all anglers are programmed to inspect any water, anywhere - and by 2016/17 it was looking very pleasant - some weed growth , lots of reedmace in the margins and some resident ducks. It's about 150 m long by 50m across from memory, maybe bigger , and I was thinking that is just the sort of little pond I'd like for myself.
2019 - I wander up to the grandstand to watch historic F1 practice, check the pond out and - hold on , what's THAT? Bloody great swirl in the margin . Walk to edge and spot carp after carp cruising , from maybe 5 lbs up to possibly low doubles I'd guess ,(but I am hopeless at estimating carp weights). Walk to catering van , buy a baguette and start feeding the margins (some strange looks now from other racegoers as I creep along the bank ). Wallop , wallop - suckers for floating crust .
My guesting (aka poaching ) days are behind me, but God, it;'s tempting to combine my two abiding obsessions in one place
... Anyone else seen them , or know why they were stocked?
I'm a regular visitor to the Silverstone Classic, and am at the circuit early every day . I wander around a lot and back in about 2013 I noticed a drainage pond behind the infield grandstand at what used to be Club , a couple of minutes walk up from the Wing complex. Every year I had a look - as all anglers are programmed to inspect any water, anywhere - and by 2016/17 it was looking very pleasant - some weed growth , lots of reedmace in the margins and some resident ducks. It's about 150 m long by 50m across from memory, maybe bigger , and I was thinking that is just the sort of little pond I'd like for myself.
2019 - I wander up to the grandstand to watch historic F1 practice, check the pond out and - hold on , what's THAT? Bloody great swirl in the margin . Walk to edge and spot carp after carp cruising , from maybe 5 lbs up to possibly low doubles I'd guess ,(but I am hopeless at estimating carp weights). Walk to catering van , buy a baguette and start feeding the margins (some strange looks now from other racegoers as I creep along the bank ). Wallop , wallop - suckers for floating crust .
My guesting (aka poaching ) days are behind me, but God, it;'s tempting to combine my two abiding obsessions in one place
... Anyone else seen them , or know why they were stocked?
I am more relaxed about them . I loathe overstocked holes in the ground but many carp waters are lovely . I am privileged to fish a lovely syndicate water, with clear water , luxuriant weed and superb birdlife -and some big carp. And tbh I'm not sure that many other species would thrive very well in a shallow water like Lake Silverstone which is likely to experience very high water temperatures in summer , given its location .
Low stocking densities are compatible with clear water and good weed growth, but it sounded from your description as if someone had stuck a lorry load of pasties in it?
This always amuses me - all these mature pits have carp in them, big ones, but there are three waters stuffed with mudpigs - and you can see which from space!
This always amuses me - all these mature pits have carp in them, big ones, but there are three waters stuffed with mudpigs - and you can see which from space!
coppice said:
I am more relaxed about them . I loathe overstocked holes in the ground but many carp waters are lovely . I am privileged to fish a lovely syndicate water, with clear water , luxuriant weed and superb birdlife -and some big carp. And tbh I'm not sure that many other species would thrive very well in a shallow water like Lake Silverstone which is likely to experience very high water temperatures in summer , given its location .
Don't know the area/venue but just a thought - is their a monastery nearby? Monks/gentry used to keep them for food so maybe this is an historical thing dickymint said:
Don't know the area/venue but just a thought - is their a monastery nearby? Monks/gentry used to keep them for food so maybe this is an historical thing
There were medieval fishponds in the area - though whether this pond has wildies in it is another matter!https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/...
It looks a bit too neat on Google maps satellite view to be ancient, though.
As I mentioned , it's a new water , formed by one of Silverstone's many redesigns. There may be Abbey corner near by, and Becketts a little further away , but the carp in this little lake are certainly no wildies! But they're not two a penny F1 horrors either, just the usual chunky mirrors so often encountered now in the UK.
Most race circuits , Cadwell being a notable exception, aren't exactly wild life havens so it was nice to see some effort being made,and while a nice , lily-girt , willow lined ,crucian pond might have been even nicer , Lac du Silverstone certainly brightened my day, and looks so,much nicer, if much smaller scale than the muddy lake at Mallory.
Most race circuits , Cadwell being a notable exception, aren't exactly wild life havens so it was nice to see some effort being made,and while a nice , lily-girt , willow lined ,crucian pond might have been even nicer , Lac du Silverstone certainly brightened my day, and looks so,much nicer, if much smaller scale than the muddy lake at Mallory.
This report might explain the existence of the balancing pond/s but not why there are Carp in there, unless I missed something?
https://www.google.com/search?q=silverstone+balanc...
https://www.google.com/search?q=silverstone+balanc...
I must admit, when we were kids my friends and I moved a lot of fish around without the benefit of Section 30 paperwork (or indeed consent from the owners of either the donor or recipient ponds...)
Very naughty, although it was mostly nicking little rudd and roach and putting them into ponds which didn't have any fish.
Very naughty, although it was mostly nicking little rudd and roach and putting them into ponds which didn't have any fish.
Shudder - at a wedding in Poland a year or two ago I couldn't resist what would be sacrilege here - eating a carp . I wish I hadn't - it was meaty (like tuna) but tasted meh .
Fly only anglers may be surprised at just how much carp are venerated in the UK . I even recall a bloody obituary in the Anglers Mail when Benson (or was it Hedges ?) , a giant common carp which lived in a lake near Peterborough, finally shuffled off this mortal coil. Mawkish lot . some carpers, it must come of spending all that time looking at porn and smoking weed in their bivvies . Allegedly .
Fly only anglers may be surprised at just how much carp are venerated in the UK . I even recall a bloody obituary in the Anglers Mail when Benson (or was it Hedges ?) , a giant common carp which lived in a lake near Peterborough, finally shuffled off this mortal coil. Mawkish lot . some carpers, it must come of spending all that time looking at porn and smoking weed in their bivvies . Allegedly .
coppice said:
Shudder - at a wedding in Poland a year or two ago I couldn't resist what would be sacrilege here - eating a carp . I wish I hadn't - it was meaty (like tuna) but tasted meh .
I had the same impulse in Finland, many years ago. Whitefish, which are protected here and only found in a few upland waters (vendace/powan/schelly). Totally forgettable. Also zander, which was OK but nothing to write home about, and perch, which was delicious.
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